Suggestion for cheap second P&S Camera?

[dalmorloson]

My wife bought me a Traveler brand P&S about four years ago and I love it. I don't know if they still make them but it was around $150 and is 8 mp. It is small (not quite pocket sized but very close). This camera takes very sharp pics and has just about every function as a dslr. The model number is DC8600. Here is an example of image quality.



Great for outdoor and close low light (w/flash). Indoor with poor light...not so much.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by rich0

Does the SD1400 get you anything you don't get in the SD1300, besides 2MP and an extra $40-50 (which is around 50% more expensive)? If the only difference is the 2MP it doesn't seem worth it. If there are substantial build/optical quality differences, or even a ton of features, maybe that makes a difference. I don't care about HD video.

The HD pretty much is the difference. The 1400 is slightly thinner (noticeably) and, imo, better looking.

: Digital Photography Review

[rich0]

After some more research I settled on the SD1300.

One thing that put me off the Fuji was that there were concerns that in full-auto mode it tended to not take great shots, and with the wife-factor I need a reliable full-auto mode. Plus, I couldn't find it in any local stores, and while I'm fine with amazon, with that concern I'd prefer to be able to preview it.

I was also thinking about my use-case, which is a cheap camera that doesn't try to be a DSLR that fits in my pocket. The Fuji looked bigger, and is nearly double the price. At $110 if I drop the SD1300 after three trips I'd still be spending less than we'd have spent in the 35mm film days on photos. The guy tried to sell me insurance on it, and I just told him the price tag was my insurance.

One thing I noticed is that the auto-ISO is pretty aggressive, so indoor shots tend to be noisy. On the other hand, the higher ISO probably helps them to look less flat/etc since there will be more ambient light. My DSLR does the same thing, but ISO 800 on a DSLR is a lot nicer than on the P&S with its tiny sensor.

No idea if this is just standard these days, but I really appreciated three things:
1. Very good face-finding.
2. Zoom-of-faces on half-shutter to confirm focus.
3. 1:1 preview inset of focus area in review.

The third item means that I don't do what I do half the time on my DSLR when shotting at marginal speeds - review every photo at 1:1 for motion blur.

No way I'd ever compare this to a DSLR, but to be honest my last $350 P&S didn't compare to a DSLR either, and so I'd rather just save my money and use it on lenses or whatever for my actual DSLR when I need one. The best camera is the one you have with you, and all that.